The Harp of God eBook

[63]"In death there is no remembrance of thee:
in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” (Psalm
6:5) Thus is shown that they have no memory while
dead. “The dead praise not the Lord, neither
any that go down into silence.” (Psalm 115:17)
Hence they could not speak while dead.

[64]The dead cannot breathe, think, or feel.
“Thou takest away their breath, they die, and
return to their dust.” (Psalm 104:29) “His
breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in
that very day his thoughts perish.” (Psalm 146:4)
A person when unconscious does not feel. This
is illustrated by the fact that when a person is taken
to a hospital for an operation the surgeon puts the
patient under an anesthetic, puts him to sleep so
that he cannot feel during the operation.

[65]Again the Scriptures read: “The living
know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything.
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy,
is now perished.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5,6) Being
unconscious, they know not anything when dead.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with
thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge,
nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”—­Ecclesiastes
9:10.

[66]Again speaking of man, God says of him: “Nevertheless
man being in honor abideth not: he is like the
beasts that perish”. (Psalm 49:12) Anything
that perishes cannot be conscious, cannot be in existence
and of course cannot be immortal.

[67]It was Jesus who said: “God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life”. (John 3:16) Here the
proof is conclusive that death means the perishing
of all unless redemption is received through Jesus
Christ. This would absolutely disprove consciousness
of the dead and would disprove also the immortality
of the soul.

[68]Death is spoken of in the Bible as a sleep, for
the reason that God intends in his due time to awaken
all of the dead and give them an opportunity of life.
The Bible abounds in the expressions referring to
the dead as asleep. A few of these expressions
are: “David slept with his fathers, and
was buried in the city of David”. (1 Kings 2:10)
“The fathers fell asleep.” (2 Peter 3:4)
’"The greater part remain until this day, but
some are fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:6)
“I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them that are asleep; ... them also which
sleep will God bring [forth] by Jesus [in the resurrection].”
—­1 Thessalonians 4:13,14.

[69]We must conclude from these Scriptures that the
dead are wholly unconscious from the moment of death
until such future time as the Lord may be pleased
to awaken them out of death and give them an opportunity
of life, which he purposes to do, as set forth in his
great plan. (John 5:28,29) Man was made of the dust.
He was sentenced to return to the dust; that is, the
condition of the dead. And the Lord said:
’They that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
arise’.—­Daniel 12:2.